Mag-log inChapter 39 Gawin "No." The word came out too loud. Too fast. "You can't do that."She stood up. "Watch me.""Mom, please." I stood too. The chair scraped against the floor. "You can't call anyone. Please. Just trust me.""Trust you." She laughed but it wasn't funny. "You come home looking like that and you expect me to trust you? You disappear for two days and you expect me to just let it go?""I'm fine. I'm telling you I'm fine.""You're not fine. You look like you haven't slept in a week. You're pale. You're thin. And you keep touching your stomach like something hurts and you won't tell me what it is." She stepped closer. "What is it, Gawin? What are you hiding?"I dropped my hand. Too fast. She noticed."I'm not hiding anything.""Then look me in the eye and tell me he didn't touch you.""He didn't.""That's not what I asked."I stared at her. She stared back. Her eyes were wet but she didn't blink. She was waiting for me to break."Just say it," she said. "If he hurt you, just
Chapter 38GawinI woke up to the smell of bacon and coffee drifting up from the kitchen. For half a second everything felt normal. Like I was sixteen again and my mother was making breakfast before school. Like I hadn't spent the night lying awake with my hand on my stomach and my phone face down on the nightstand because I couldn't stand to see another message from Joss.Then I moved and the ache in my lower belly reminded me that nothing was normal. The baby shifted. Soft. Insistent. Like it was already demanding attention even though it was barely bigger than my thumb. I pressed my palm against the spot and breathed through the dull throb that never really went away anymore.The quiet inside me was already stirring. That restless hunger that only settled when Joss was close. I hated how much I noticed it. I hated that my body had decided his scent was the only thing that made it stop.I dragged myself out of bed and pulled on a hoodie. The same one I had worn yesterday. It still s
Chapter 38Gawin Boston glanced at me. “Don’t thank me yet. Your family is going to lose their minds when they see you. And that guy back there? He’s not done. I know that look. He’s going to dig until he finds something. And we’re gonna talk about how you got pregnant.”“I know.”We drove the rest of the way in silence. When he pulled up in front of my parents’ house the sun was already starting to drop. The place looked the same as always. Quiet. Ordinary. Like nothing had changed.Boston put the car in park. “Call me if he shows up. I’ll handle it.”“Okay.”“Gawin.” He waited until I looked at him. “You did the right thing. Keeping it from him. For now. We’ll figure the rest out later.”I nodded and got out. “Thank you so much Bos” He waited until I reached the front door before he drove off. I stood there for a second with my key in my hand. My heart was beating too fast. I could still hear Joss’s voice in my head. I know you’re lying.I unlocked the door and stepped inside.The
Chapter 37 GawinI was still lying in that bed when the shouting started downstairs. My head was fuzzy from whatever the doctor had put in the IV, but the noise cut straight through it. Loud. Aggressive. Familiar.Boston.I sat up too fast and the room tilted. My hand went to my stomach out of pure habit. The ache was still there, dull now, but the reminder of what I was carrying made my chest tight. I could hear him clear as day even from the second floor.“Where is he? Where the hell is my teammate?”Doors slammed. Someone yelled something about private property. Boston’s voice just got louder.“You think you can just keep him here? What kind of psycho operation are you running?”I swung my legs over the side of the bed. The IV line tugged. I ripped the tape off and pulled the needle out myself. Blood beaded on my arm. I pressed my thumb over it and stood. My legs felt like water but I forced them to move. I needed to get downstairs before Boston said something that got both of us
Chapter 36GawinI stared at Joss. His eyes were dark and steady. The question hung between us. Why didn’t you tell me? My chest felt tight. My stomach still ached under my hand. The IV line tugged when I tried to sit up more. I forced my face to stay blank. No fear. No soft look. Nothing that would let him in.I laughed once. It came out short and cold. “Tell you what?”He leaned closer. “You know what.”I shook my head. “I don’t. You dragged me back here. Some doctor poked at me. Now you sit there asking questions like I owe you answers.”His jaw tightened. “The doctor said you’re pregnant.”I made my eyes go wide. Surprise. Real surprise if I could fake it hard enough. “Pregnant? Me?” I pointed at my own chest. “I’m an Alpha. Alphas don’t get pregnant. That’s impossible. You know that.”“He said it. Clear as day.”“Then he’s wrong.” My voice stayed flat. “Alphas don’t carry. It’s not how the body works. Maybe I ate something bad. Maybe stress. Maybe the running made me bleed a litt
Chapter 35JossMy body moved before my brain caught up. One second I was standing at the gate watching Gawin walk away into the dark, the next I was over the metal and running. Bare feet slapped the cold ground. Sleep pants hung low on my hips. No shirt. No shoes. Nothing but the sound of my own breathing and the shape of him getting smaller up ahead.I did not think. I just ran.He was already near the corner when a taxi slowed and the driver opened his door. The guy stepped out, hand out like he meant to help. Something hot and ugly shot straight through my chest. I did not want anyone’s hands on him. Not some stranger. Not anyone.“Back off,” I barked as I closed the last few meters.The driver froze. Gawin’s legs gave out right then. He went down hard, one knee first, then the rest of him. The bag hit the pavement and spilled open. Cash scattered. A phone skidded under the taxi’s front tire. His hand never left his stomach.I dropped to the ground beside him. His face was white.







